New Mutants ($49 Million Worldwide Box Office)

EXCLUSIVE: Fox has closed a deal with The Fault In Our Stars director Josh Boone to co-write and direct The New Mutants, a standalone spinoff that expands its X-Men movie universe. The series, already part of the X-Men Comics universe, introduces a new crop of mutant characters born with special powers. Boone will co-write with Knate Gwaltney. Simon Kinberg will produce with Lauren Shuler Donner.

It is not surprising that the studio would want Boone to grow into bigger things. He came out of nowhere to direct The Fault In Our Stars, an adaptation of the John Green novel The Fault In Our Stars. The book had a rabid youthful fan base, but Boone showed a strong feel in bringing youthful pathos to the screen, and while Shailene Woodley was already an emerging star, both Ansel Elgort and Nat Wolff broke through as new stars on that film. The result was a $12 million budget Fox 2000 film that grossed $307 million worldwide. Boone became a hot director right away off that success, and among the projects he has been linked to are adaptations of the Stephen King novels The Stand and Lisey’s Story. He’s also been mentioned as one of the directors Marvel and Sony have been sweet on for the live action Spider-Man franchise reboot. Next up for him is The Vampire Chronicles at Universal, a reboot based on the Anne Rice novels that were turned into Interview With The Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles with Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt.  The Stand would go after, so The New Mutants is a couple years away.

Said Kinberg of the X-Men expansion with Boone: “We’re so excited to explore this new part of the X-Men universe, and so excited to do it with Josh, who is uniquely suited to tell this story about young characters.”

Fox has done well mining its X-Men franchise. Ryan Reynolds is playing Deadpool with Tim Miller directing, and Bryan Singer is directing X-Men: Apocalypse for 2016. James Mangold and Hugh Jackman are also doing another Wolverine installment with Hugh Jackman. Behind those is Gambit, a movie that has Channing Tatum attached to star. Those are the current X-Men priorities but it is proactive of Fox to keep new films in the pipeline and to re-engage Boone, who’s repped by CAA and attorney Gregory Slewett. Gwaltney is also CAA.

Fox’s ‘New Mutants’ May Have Already Cast Wolfsbane and Magik

Earlier today we got word that 20th Century Fox’s X-Men spin-off New Mutants would be taking on sort of a YA, or Young Adult vibe in keeping with the younger-skewing Marvel Comics series. Now, a new rumor suggests that Fox already has a few age-appropriate cast members in mind to form the title team. Keep in mind that the movie is still in development, director Josh Boone and his writing partner are working on the script, and the film doesn’t have a confirmed release date (though Fox did stake out some untitled territory on the calendar on October 6, 2017, January 12, 2018, and July 13, 2018).

As HitFix reports, Fox’s New Mutants is looking to add the second youngest team member, Wolfsbane, and Colossus’ younger sister, Magik. Stepping into those mutant movie roles are apparently Maisie Williams (Game of Thrones) and Anya Taylor-Joy (The Witch) respectively. Also expected to join the team is the studio’s younger version of Storm, Alexandra Shipp, who will embody the character in Bryan Singer’s X-Men: Apocalypse on May 27th. Cannonball, Sunspot, and Mirage are also rumored to be on the team, with James McAvoy’s Professor X expected to play a significant role.

Again, this is all unconfirmed information at this point, but the included cast members would make sense for a number of reasons. Originally appearing in 1982, the first team dubbed “The New Mutants” was comprised of Cannonball, Karma, Mirage, Sunspot, and Wolfsbane, all teenage mutants studying at Professor Charles Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters. The two other names–Magik and Storm–make sense in light of Fox’s cinematic universe. Colossus has been reintroduced to new audiences thanks to his role in Deadpool and Storm will likely have some good will to earn back since she’s currently one of Apocalypse’s Four Horsemen.

For the uninitiated, Wolfsbane, a.k.a. Rahne Sinclair, is a Scottish mutant who can transform fully into a wolf or another state caught somewhere between human and wolf. Though she’s in control of her powers, her feral instincts are sometimes difficult to keep at bay. Her deeply religious upbringing caused her to experience conflict, such as shame for the joy she felt during her transformations, or the discomfort around her sorceress teammate, Magik.

Magik, a.k.a. Ilyana Nikolievna Rasputin, can teleport herself and others from one location to another by stepping into a transitional dimension known as Limbo. She can teleport across time as well as through space, and eventually became the sorceress supreme of Limbo. She also wears magical armor, wields an enchanted Soulsword, and once studied magic under Ororo Munroe, a.k.a. Storm.

Tyger wrote:Rosario gettin paid

After confirming that Maisie Williams and Anya Taylor-Joy would be joining Josh Boone‘s X-Men universe spin-off The New Mutants earlier this month, we’re starting to get an idea of just how this movie is going to shape up. Clearly, inspiration is drawn from Chris Claremont and Bob McLeod‘s early 80s creation about a team of young Marvel mutants, but new information gets a little more detailed than that.

EW has the inside track on Boone’s latest project, straight from the writer-director himself. Perhaps most interesting is the tone of this project, which is apparently shifting from its earlier iteration as a YA-styled film to more of a horror focus, just one that’s set in the X-Men universe. Based on the current cast, they really could have gone either way with it: 20-year-old Williams will play Wolfsbane alongside 21-year-old Taylor-Joy as Magik. Henry Zaga (13 Reasons Why) is rumored for the role of Sunspot, with Rosario Dawson in negotiations to play Dr. Cecilia Reyes, “a medical doctor who has the ability to generate a protective bio-field around herself,” and will act as a mentor of sorts, as THR reports. It’s still unclear whether or not James McAvoy‘s Professor X or Alexandra Shipp‘s Storm will appear, as we’ve heard conflicting reports; stay tuned.
josh-boone-new-mutants

As for Boone’s plans for The New Mutants, he said:

   We are making a full-fledged horror movie set within the X-Men universe. There are no costumes. There are no supervillains. We’re trying to do something very, very different.

Well that’d certainly be different, considering that Disney/Marvel, Sony/Marvel, 20th Century Fox/Marvel, and Warner Bros./DC have done pretty well with costumes and supervillains over the last 20 years or so.

The movie’s plot will reportedly take inspiration from artist Bill Sienkiewicz‘s 1984 run on the Marvel comic’s series, which Boone described as, “a darker and more surreal and impressionistic X-Men series than we’d ever seen before. It felt like Stephen King meets John Hughes.”

The story is expected to explore how mutants are at their most dangerous–to themselves and people around them–when their powers are new. EW’s source says this of the plot:

   “Held in a secret facility against their will, five new mutants have to battle the dangers of their powers, as well as the sins of their past. They aren’t out to save the world — they’re just trying to save themselves.”

If this all sounds a little off to you, Boone wants to get one thing straight:

   “You can’t have a bigger nerd or fan making this. It’s so important to me. I’m not the 12-year-old who decided to write Stephen King a letter and loved Marvel Comics anymore, but I try to hold myself accountable to that kid. Because that kid is what keeps me from becoming a Hollywood whore,” he says with a laugh. “I look back and think: Would he think this would be cool? Would he proud of me? Did I fulfill the dream we had when we were kids? So yeah, you can definitely say I’m excited.”

We’ll find out more once the film heads towards its planned July production start in advance of an April 13, 2018 release.

Stranger Things” star Charlie Heaton is in negotiations to join X-Men spinoff “New Mutants” for Fox and Marvel as Sam Guthrie, a.k.a. Cannonball.

“Split” star Anya Taylor-Joy and Maisie Williams of “Game of Thrones” are already signed up for the project with Taylor-Joy playing Illyana Rasputin, also known as Magik, who uses teleportation. Williams is on board as Rahne Sinclair, a.k.a. Wolfsbane, who can turn into a wolf. Rosario Dawson is in talks to play Dr. Cecilia Reyes.

Heaton plays Jonathan Bryers on Netflix’s “Stranger Things.” The Sam Guthrie character is also known as Cannonball, who’s invulnerable when he’s in the air.

UltimateMarvel wrote:It's hard to get costumes right though, can't blame them. The idea of going with a horror feel to it is interesting though, it's certainly different.

Tyger wrote:would a James Bond movie feel the same if he was in jeans and a T shirt the whole time?

‘New Mutants’: Alice Braga Replaces Rosario Dawson as Dr. Cecilia Reyes

Alice Braga has joined Fox and Marvel’s X-Men spinoff, “New Mutants,” replacing Rosario Dawson in the role of Dr. Cecilia Reyes.

Dawson was in talks last month for the role. Dr. Cecilia Reyes serves as a mentor for the superheroes and her character has the ability to generate an invisible bio-field around herself.

“New Mutants,” created by Chris Claremont and Bob McLeod, was the first X-Men comic spinoff, launched in the early 1980s. The “New Mutants” movie is in pre-production and has been set for an April 13, 2018, opening. “The Fault in Our Stars” director Josh Boone is helming “New Mutants” from a script he co-wrote with Knate Lee about teenage superheroes-mutants.

Simon Kinberg and Karen Rosenfelt are producing. Fox announced in April that it was dating three Marvel movies for 2018 — “New Mutants” for April 13, “Deadpool 2” for June 1, and “Dark Phoenix” for Nov. 2.

Braga, a Brazilian actress who stars in USA’s “Queen of the South,” joins Anya Taylor-Joy, Maisie Williams, Charlie Heaton, Blue Hunt and Henry Zaga in the movie. Taylor-Joy will play Illyana Rasputin, aka Magik; Williams will portray Rahne Sinclair, aka Wolfsbane; Heaton is playing portraying Sam Guthrie, aka Cannonball; Hunt is portraying Danielle Moonstar; and Zaga is playing Sunspot.

UltimateMarvel wrote:I didn't know that. That's cool! I would have preferred Rosario but whatever.

Rusty Cunt wrote:

UltimateMarvel wrote:I didn't know that. That's cool! I would have preferred Rosario but whatever.

Keep Rosario for the TV Marvel. No need to double dip.

Tyger wrote:To be honest, I'm not familiar with the New Mutants so I'm not sure if anything in that trailer was showing people's powers or not, but it just looks like any random scary movie to me. Still don't get the point of using the characters.

UltimateMarvel wrote:This feels nothing like a Marvel movie. This can be a good or bad thing. Feels like a horror movie for sure.

The superhero genre is evolving. In recent years, there have been tons of comic book movies hitting the big screen and, while audiences are still turning up, the genre will need to start doing some new things in order to keep it feeling fresh. That is exactly what Josh Boone (The Fault in Our Stars) is going to do with The New Mutants, which is going to be a straight-up horror movie set within the X-Men universe. Now, he's revealed that New Mutants will be a trilogy of horror movies, all with their own unique feel.

The director spoke with IGN recently in honor of the first teaser trailer for The New Mutants arriving online. The trailer leans heavily into the horror angle. Truthfully, if the movie didn't have "mutants" in the title, people likely wouldn't even know it was an X-Men movie. Here's what Josh Boone had to say about The New Mutants trilogy and how he pitched it to Fox.

   "We brought it to Fox as a trilogy of films, really all based on that long run by Sienkiewicz, and kind of incorporates some stuff from later issues in the '80s. These are all going to be horror movies, and they're all be their own distinct kind of horror movies. This is certainly the 'rubber-reality' supernatural horror movie. The next one will be a completely different kind of horror movie. Our take was just go examine the horror genre through comic book movies and make each one its own distinct sort of horror film. Drawing from the big events that we love in the comics."

Josh Boone also revealed that there are going to be plenty of secrets about The New Mutants that won't ever be shown in a trailer. Fans are going to have to see the movie in order to find out about them. He also confirmed that the first movie, which arrives in theaters on April 13, 2018, is going to be set in the present day. The X-Men timeline is pretty messed up right now, but we know that this will more or less exist alongside Deadpool, which takes place in present day. As for what is going to influence these New Mutants horror movies? It's primarily going to be the Demon Bear storyline from the comics, and some pretty classic horror.

   "Our whole pitch for this series was based on Bill Sienkiewicz run with Chris Claremont [The New Mutants vol. 1 #18-31, 35-38], so it's very much when New Mutants became dark and surreal and more horror driven. We were incredibly inspired by the Demon Bear story which is probably the best, well-known New Mutants story. We also drew on movies like One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Stephen King stuff, and even Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors."

The success that Logan and Deadpool both enjoyed have encouraged Fox to take some risks on future projects, like The New Mutants. Josh Boone couldn't reveal to IGN whether or not any familiar X-Men characters will show up in the movie, but we could be in for some surprises. Considering how big horror movies have been at the box office lately, it looks like Fox may have a potential monster hit on their hands with The New Mutants.

In surprising release date news, 20th Century Fox has pushed back the release of Josh Boone’s horror-tinged X-Men spinoff New Mutants by 10 months, moving it from April 13 to Feb. 22, 2019. That’ll come as a bummer to most Marvel fans, but hey, on the bright side, Deadpool 2 is moving up two weeks, from June 1 to May 18. That means it’ll have just one week to itself before Disney releases Solo: A Star Wars Story… unless Fox knows something we don’t following the Disney deal.

Elsewhere, Channing Tatum’s Gambit is moving back from Feb. 14, 2019 to June 7, 2019 following the abrupt exit of director Gore Verbinski earlier on Thursday morning. The studio reportedly believes the heist film will play better as a summer movie, but it’s going to be up against some stiff competition — The Secret Life of Pets 2 and the Charlie’s Angels reboot.

Deadpool 2 will now open against Sony’s Slender Man, which may decide to step aside, if it knows what’s good for it. And with the delay of New Mutants, the Ryan Reynolds-led sequel now won’t have to worry about another movie set in the X-Men universe coming in hot on its heels.

Anya Taylor-Joy, Maisie Williams and Charlie Heaton star in New Mutants, which will now open against the Blake Lively action-thriller The Rhythm Section. Word on the street is that after the film tested well but not great, the studio decided to actually embrace the film’s horror elements and beef up the scares in the wake of the success of It and Get Out last year.

UltimateMarvel wrote:Wow! Almost a whole year. Why release a trailer if this was the case? Now people are gonna expect a good movie. lol

WyldeMan wrote:

UltimateMarvel wrote:Wow! Almost a whole year. Why release a trailer if this was the case? Now people are gonna expect a good movie. lol

That trailer was awesome and sold me on Mutants but with the release now being more than a year away instead of a few months, I no longer have any interest.

Tyger wrote:That trailer was awesome??

WyldeMan wrote:

Tyger wrote:That trailer was awesome??

Ok you caught me, like all other trailers I post here, I didn't actually watch it.

Damn fact checkin son of a bitch.....

UltimateMarvel wrote:LOL! He caught your lying ass!

Dark Phoenix & New Mutants to Be Completely Scrapped by Fox?

The production of the next two X-Men movies, Dark Phoenix and The New Mutants has looked very cloudy, with both movies being pushed back significantly in order for them to receive reshoots. Unfortunately for X-Men fans, a new report has surfaced claiming that Disney and FOX plan to completely scrap these projects as the damage may be irreparable.

While a couple of Fox's more recent Marvel movies have been rather successful and high quality, specifically the Deadpool movies, the rest of their Marvel flicks have not been met with open arms. The 2015 Fantastic Four was an utter disappointment, X-Men: Apocalypse was a huge step down from Days of Future Past, and their next two movies may be following in the same path.

The New Mutants was originally slated to release earlier this year, and even had a trailer released back in 2017. However, after Fox reportedly deemed the final cut of the movie "boring" and "unwatchable," they ordered extensive reshoots that pushed the release date until August 2019, making a nearly year and a half difference between the two release dates. According to a recent report, the issue with New Mutants came from director Josh Boone and how he adapted the movie.

According to the report, Fox initially wanted the movie to be set primarily in the X-Mansion, being based directly on the comics. It even had a final battle against a Sentinel during the third act, which feels just like an X-Men comic book. However, Josh Boone came to them with a rather different vision carrying a significantly darker tone which they decided to follow. Now, FOX is apparently upset with their decision to follow Boone's vision and are desperately attempting to reshoot accordingly.

Other issues surfaced with the production of The New Mutants as the cast has been noticeably unhappy. Actress Anya Taylor-Joy, who plays Magik, reportedly did not get along well with another cast member. Additionally, it's understandable that the rest of the cast would be uptight as the movie has been in and out of production for over a year now, which is much longer than what they initially signed on for.

While we don't have as detailed of a report on X-Men: Dark Phoenix, we can imagine that the sequel is in the same boat. According to the report, Fox is now considering just scrapping the two projects, and the Fox-Disney merger isn't helping much. Apparently, Disney is starting to become more active in the decisions at FOX and are just as displeased with the two X-Men as the rest of the Fox executives. It would seem that if Fox doesn't cut their losses on X-Men: Dark Phoenix and The New Mutants, then Disney will do it for them when they take over. Disney will want to integrate the X-Men franchise into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and it would be difficult to do that successfully if X-Men: Dark Phoenix and The New Mutants were absolute bombs.

This report came from Superhero Hype by a user who has been deemed reliable, but it should still be taken with a grain of Thanos dust. Fox does indeed cancel the next two X-Men movies, they will essentially be tossing out hundreds of millions of dollars. Only time will tell if we'll ever get the chance to see X-Men: Dark Phoenix or The New Mutants hit theaters, but at the moment, it's not looking too likely.

UltimateMarvel wrote:Dark Phoenix sucked but at least this looks different. We shall see how it turns out.